Community Supported Agriculture

Most of us have heard about the concept of providing clients with a box of fresh vegetables from our smallholding once a week.

However there is concept known as Community Supported
Agriculture, where the townies actually buy shares in the crop. They pay the
grower at the beginning of the growing season, and then receive a portion of
the crops as they’re harvested. The produce is supplied over a set number of
weeks of the season.

This is in principle a win-win situation. Growers earn important early-season capital and have a guaranteed market for their produce.

Some smallholdings have spring, summer, fall, and even
winter shares. Typically, there is a drop-off site or sites where CSA members
pick up their weekly shares, or they come directly to the plot.

Collecting the veggies

As the grower, you get paid early in the season, before you
have to spend a lot on seeds and labour, so your cash flow is better. And, CSAs
allow you to connect better with your community, really letting you get to know
the people who want your food. You can adjust your offerings to their desires
and needs and create a more successful, responsive business.

In order to effectively market your CSA, you also need to
understand why your potential customers would want to pay up front for an
entire season’s worth of produce. These are the advantages that you can use to
encourage their buy-in: